Key result
Non-obstetric complications were the most prevalent cause of maternal mortality, accounting for 48.32% of deaths, followed by obstetric hemorrhage (17.63%) and hypertensive disorders (14.01%).
Why the study?
Maternal mortality is a universal public health challenge, and ICD-MM was introduced in 2012 to facilitate data collection and analysis on maternal deaths worldwide.
Meta-Analysis (n=7,505)
Non-obstetric complications, obstetric hemorrhage, and hypertensive disorders are the leading causes of maternal mortality globally, highlighting areas for targeted public health interventions.
Emphasizes indirect causes in maternal mortality strategies; supports standardized ICD-MM data for global comparisons.
BACKGROUND: Maternal mortality is a universal public health challenge. ICD-Maternal Mortality (ICD-MM) was introduced in 2012 to facilitate the gathering, analysis, and interpretation of data on maternal deaths worldwide. The present study aimed to estimate the global prevalence of maternal death causes through a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using various databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, ScienceDirect, Cochrane Library, as well as Persian databases such as MagIran and Scientific Information Database (SID). The search encompassed articles published until August 21, 2022. Thirty-four eligible articles were included in the final analysis. Analysis was performed using a meta-analysis approach. The exact Clopper-Pearson confidence intervals, heterogeneity assessment, and random effects models with Mantel-Haenszel methods were employed using the STATA software version 14.2. RESULTS: The most prevalent causes of maternal deaths, listed in descending order from highest to lowest prevalence, were non-obstetric complications (48.32%), obstetric hemorrhage (17.63%), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium (14.01%), other obstetric complications (7.11%), pregnancy with abortive outcome (5.41%), pregnancy-related infection (5.26%), unanticipated complications of management (2.25%), unknown/undetermined causes (2.01%), and coincidental causes (1.59%), respectively. CONCLUSION: Non-obstetric complications, obstetric hemorrhage, and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, childbirth, and puerperium were the most common causes of maternal deaths. To reduce the burden of maternal mortality causes, increasing awareness and promoting self-care management among women of reproductive age, and implementing effective screening mechanisms for high-risk mothers during pregnancy, childbirth, and the puerperium can play a significant role. ICD-MM enables the uniform collection and comparison of maternal death information at different levels (local, national, and international) by facilitating the consistent collection, analysis, and interpretation of data on maternal deaths. Our findings can be utilized by policymakers and managers at various levels to facilitate necessary planning aimed at reducing the burden of maternal mortality causes.
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Alipour et al. (2023) conducted a meta-analysis in Maternal mortality (n=7,505). Maternal mortality causes (ICD-MM) was evaluated on Prevalence of non-obstetric complications (95% CI 48.24-48.39). Non-obstetric complications were the most prevalent cause of maternal mortality, accounting for 48.32% of deaths, followed by obstetric hemorrhage (17.63%) and hypertensive disorders (14.01%).
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